Many Facebook bloggers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts write regularly about Mamiya Chakma, who was recently arrested by the police in connection with the China women’s trafficking case.
These vloggers love their Chittagong Hill Tracts. They want to protect their homeland and safeguard their women. After reading their posts, it seems to me they want to serve their country and society through their Facebook messages.
I’m surprised why they focus on only one topic—women, Mamiya, or the trafficked women to China. They love their homeland, society, and nation. There are many pressing issues in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Why is their love for their country limited to one issue?
Consider the establishment of military camps, corruption, internal divisions among Indigenous people, and local Indigenous parties patronized by the military. These parties claim to work for freedom but are controlled by the army.
Only the KNF is an exception. The KNF is genuinely at war with the military in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. They have attacked many military personnel in the last six months.
But why are these vloggers silent about all these issues except Mamiya and women’s trafficking?
Yesterday, I had some time. I couldn’t control myself, so I called two of these Facebook vloggers to ask why they don’t write about other issues.
Their responses completely quenched my curiosity.
They said, “People do not like and comment on our posts about other issues. They like and comment on our posts about Mamiya and women’s trafficking. Many people even share our posts.”
I asked, “What is the benefit of getting likes and comments?”
They proudly said, “Facebook income. More likes, comments, and shares make our page famous, and we earn dollars.”
I was dumbfounded.
“They are right. What else can these Facebook vloggers do? They are not political leaders; they need money to live their lives. They know they can’t change anything. It’s better to live this way and try to earn a few dollars on Facebook.”
Of course, I was heartbroken.
I couldn’t tell them that I had never heard of anyone from the Chittagong Hill Tracts becoming rich by begging for stars on Facebook posts.
I do not support what Mamiya did or the suffering of the women who went to China. But what else could they do? Mamiya, who is known for cursing the Chakmas, and those who willingly went to China are just a part of the frustration of the Indigenous women of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Indigenous men have become pets of the military. Local Indigenous political parties have become sources of income for men. Everywhere, men have started earning in the wrong way. They kill Indigenous brothers on the advice of the military and receive huge amounts of money but claim they are doing good for the Chittagong Hill Tracts. They say they are protecting the country and the nation.
Indigenous women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts are frustrated. What is a woman’s dream? A bit of food, a good partner, good clothes, a good education, and a good life. The situation is such that they can’t even find someone to marry.
What else can they do? Marrying Chinese, Muslims, and Jihadis is not worse than what the men of the Chittagong Hill Tracts are doing. At least they are not killing their Indigenous brothers or selling their homeland. They are selling themselves to survive and to save their parents.
I’ve heard some stories. Many Muslim husbands bear the medical expenses of their wives’ mothers or fathers.
If the political situation in the hills does not change, thousands of Mamiyas will be born, and thousands of Indigenous women will dream of selling themselves to the Chinese and Jihadis to survive.
It is up to the men of the Chittagong Hill Tracts to decide how they want to protect their homeland and their sisters and prevent their nation from being destroyed.
Many may take my post the wrong way, but this is the reality of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
